Graeme Souness has completed his latest charity challenge, climbing the UK's three highest peaks and finishing three high-altitude swims in just three days. The retired football star took on the endurance test to raise £500,000 for people with epidermolysis bullosa, known as “butterfly skin”, a group of rare, painful genetic skin conditions that cause the skin to blister and tear at the slightest touch.
Three mountains, three swims
Souness, 73, was joined by Traitors winner Harry Clark and fellow former Scotland footballer Scott Brown as he walked Ben Nevis in Scotland, Snowdon – Yr Wyddfa – in Wales and Scafell Pike in England. The trio were also accompanied by members of the EB community, including Kevin Kealy, who has EB simplex and completed every leg, and Calum Blackman, whose three-year-old son Albi has recessive dystrophic EB.
At the finish, Souness said: “We did it! After three punishing days, three mountains and three open-water swims, the team and I completed our toughest challenge yet.”
“Brutal” challenge
“It was brutal. The climbs punished our legs, the cold water took our breath away and every stage pushed us to the limit. But humour, humility and the EB community kept us moving. I struggled with leg pain but the pain passed. For people living with EB — ‘butterfly skin’, so fragile that the slightest touch can cause blistering and wounds — it does not. They face relentless pain, itch and hours of treatment every day.”
The former Liverpool star added: “The public’s generosity has brought our £500,000 target closer and reaching it could help DEBRA UK fund another clinical trial for a life-changing EB treatment. Thank you to everyone who has donated for standing with our team, DEBRA UK and everyone living with EB. Your support means more than I can say.”
Support from famous faces
Harry Clark, 25, a former serviceman, won the second series of The Traitors in 2024 before pursuing a reality TV career. Scott Brown, 41, won more than 50 caps for Scotland and captained Celtic, making more than 400 appearances for the club.
The challenge was part of DEBRA UK's £20 million Stop the Pain appeal, which funds better care for those with EB and drives the development of treatments that could heal wounds faster. Souness, who also managed Rangers and Liverpool before becoming a TV pundit, has previously raised millions through other challenges.
These included a 30-mile English Channel swim in 2023 with Team DEBRA UK, which raised more than £1.2 million and boosted the charity's ‘A Life Free of Pain’ appeal. In 2025, he and his team completed another endurance swim across the Channel and back, raising almost £730,000 for further drug testing.
